Table-egg production rose for the first time since the worst avian influenza ever in the United States swept the Midwest in the first half of this year. Egg farms produced 6.5 million eggs for table consumption during July, the first increase in output since March, according to the monthly Chickens and Eggs report. Production was up by 3 percent from June but still 12-percent smaller than a year ago.
The population of hens laying eggs for human consumption was steady for the second month at 271 million birds as of Aug. 1, but is also 12-percent smaller than a year ago – a continuing indication of the impact of bird flu. Recovery is expected to take as long as a year. The USDA forecasts egg production will be 5-percent smaller this year than in 2014. Egg prices in the supermarket will be an average 13-percent higher than 2014, with prices to rise again in 2016.
Retail egg prices rocketed 40 percent in three weeks to an average of $2.78 a dozen nationwide for Large white eggs Grade A or better this week, up from from $1.99 a dozen during the first week of August, says the USDA’s National Retail Report. “The average price of Grade A or better Large White eggs continuously rises to record high prices.”